Similarity, dissimilarity, and learning from puppets

The current study examined young children’s perceptions of puppets and the relation between individual differences in perceptions of puppets and learning from puppets. The study also tested if increasing children’s perceptions of similarity to a puppet increased learning from the puppet. Preschool-aged children were introduced to a novel puppet character through stories and a video. The stories presented the puppet as either similar to or different from the child, while the video that followed the stories showed the puppet solving a physical problem. Children were asked questions assessing the extent to which they attributed human-like characteristics to the puppet (personification) and the extent to which they felt similar to the puppet (similarity). Learning was assessed through a memory question, transfer task, and questions about analogical connections between the video and the problem children solved. The results suggest that (1) younger children are more likely to view puppets as humans; (2) feeling similar to the puppet was not significantly related to age or cognitive ability; (3) personification and learning were not significantly related; (4) and children who felt similar to the puppet despite being cued to differences were the least likely group to learn from the puppet. These results are discussed in terms of the implications for children’s media involving puppets and of the theoretical underpinnings of learning from puppets.